Police intimidation of The Hindu continued for the seventh consecutive day on Monday when they resolved to make the Resident Editor S. Nagesh Kumar run around the Punjagutta police station for as many times as possible.
As the Punjagutta police had declined to receive his bail sureties on Sunday, Mr. Nagesh Kumar, along with his advocates, visited the station on Monday evening to furnish the sureties in connection with a case filed in the police station on September 17, 2013. The case relates to a report published in The Hindu and other dailies about the visit to a godman by DGP V. Dinesh Reddy in the Old City.
The Investigation Officer (IO) Tirupathi Rao, took the sureties and handed over a notice asking the Resident Editor to appear for examination at 2 p.m on September 27 at the Punjagutta police station. However, within 30 minutes, the IO sent another notice to The Hindu office at Somajiguda.
The police changed its orders and serve a fresh notice asking the Resident Editor to appear for examination at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday instead of September 27. It is given to understand that the police plan to detain Mr. Nagesh Kumar in the police station till Tuesday evening in the name of investigation.
It is to be recalled that on Sunday, Mr. Nagesh Kumar was subjected to harassment when he, along with other journalists and advocates, were made to wait for several hours, as the IO was not present for receiving bail sureties. There was no officer designated to deputise for him. Senior officers present, alleged that the FDs were not in order because they were issued by the Advocates Mutually Aided Cooperative Society Limited, Hyderabad, on the ground that a solvency certificate issued by tahsildar was required. However, on Monday, The IO, as per the orders of the High Court, received the same sureties. While the process was supposed to be completed between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., it was done only after 6 p.m.
